BS: 2021: MBF households and friends

Subject: RE: BS: 2021: MBF households and friends
From: Donuel
Date: 03 Sep 22 - 03:14 PM

We only have had 2 flys Fric and Frac, 1 zebra spider Zeb and a mini moth Mo. Without running in and out to the pool all summer the insect population indoors is at an all time low. Of course with 2 cats my counts may be way off.

Subject: RE: BS: 2021: MBF households and friends
From: keberoxu
Date: 03 Sep 22 - 10:09 AM

The Rainbow Bridge is a sentimental tradition amongst pet lovers,
especially if the pet is a dog (but not limited to dogs)
as the place that beloved companion animals go when they die.

I quite liked the variation on the story,
Beyond the Rainbow Bridge.
It's long. A dispatch/abstract version follows.


The man and his dog were in heaven. The orchard was abundant, the grass comfortable to sit in, the sky clear and sunny; and the old man who tended the place was good company.
The man was telling the old custodian how he got there.
When he died, he found himself at the crossing of a Rainbow Bridge.
Right away he knew he was in the right place,
because his beloved dog, who pre-deceased him,
was there waiting for him.

Man and dog crossed the Rainbow Bridge in companionship, as they would have done in life.
It was not long before they encountered The Pearly Gates.
The man, retelling the encounter, felt anew the unease and confusion.
Everything looked right but it felt wrong, from first sight;
and the dog confirmed it, holding back, uninclined to investigate.

The Pearly Gates were closed, but a gatekeeper, who seemed nothing like the fabled Saint Peter, came out, greeted the man,
and opened the gates up.
Looking inside, the man saw the streets paved with gold, the material abundance, the glory, so many overwhelming details.
And then the gatekeeper told him:
"Of course, you'll have to leave the dog outside. No dogs here."

And that settled it.
If the Pearly Gates was no place for his dog, it was no place for him.
Now, with his dog contentedly enjoying a water dish of fresh water after the journey,
the new arrival expressed his misgivings to the old man.

And the custodian of heaven was quick to reassure him,
telling the man that the Pearly Gates had their place,
and fulfilled a most important function --
they made sure that people who would abandon their beloved companions
had a place to go, other than heaven!

(well, it read something like that)

Subject: RE: BS: 2021: MBF households and friends
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 30 Aug 22 - 03:38 PM

We stayed in a cottage in Ireland once where Mrs G evicted a lizard early on. Then complained about the insects in the house! I did point out that the lizard would have kept the crawley population down but would she listen..?

Subject: RE: BS: 2021: MBF households and friends
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Aug 22 - 11:24 AM

My dogs leave most of the outside critters alone; I've rescued several tarantulas in the house and returned them to the outdoors where they will thrive.

There are toads that live in the yard and garden that use one of the dog water pans as a spa on hot nights and the dogs ignore them (I think they all have been in contact and know that toads taste bad).

They do go after squirrels, and even just standing near the back door and SAYING the word "squirrel" will send the two girls pelting out through the dog door to see if there is one near enough to catch or pester. Cookie has killed two and made contact with two others (that I've seen.)

Subject: RE: BS: 2021: MBF households and friends
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 30 Aug 22 - 06:35 AM

You might think that putting a spider outside is humane, but you are probably condemning it to death. Most domestic spiders are in the right habitat for them, whereas "outside" is alien to them. I lie about what I've done with a spider I've caught. I'll let it go into a corner or under the sofa, etc., or put it in the utility room or porch, rather than throw it outside. In the house they are feeding on silverfish and other little pesky things like that, and they won't run short of food. So leave them be. They are not just harmless, they are positively useful.

Subject: RE: BS: 2021: MBF households and friends
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 30 Aug 22 - 04:38 AM

I share Sen’s dislike of spiders - I don’t think I have a phobia, but I’m certainly far from comfortable with them - and Mrs. Backwoodsperson is the same. However, we will not harm a spider (apart from those dirty, shit-eating critters, flies, I won’t harm any creature deliberately) and we have our ‘spider-tumbler’ on the kitchen window-sill which we use to catch spiders, slip an envelope or stiff piece of paper under the tumbler, turn it over with the spider in it, kept there by the envelope, and take it outside to find a new home in the garden.

A trick Mrs B learned at the office (where they have spiders the size of dinner plates which are faster than a race-horse).

Subject: RE: BS: 2021: MBF households and friends
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 29 Aug 22 - 07:56 PM

You hate spiders, Senoufou? Fight that prejudice!

I always make a point of treating spiders kindly, and if appropriate, assisting them from the premises.

The way Uncle Toby in Sterne's Tristram Shandy acted towards flies: "Go—says he, one day at dinner, to an over-grown one which had buzz’d about his nose, and tormented him cruelly all dinner-time,—and which, after infinite attempts, he had caught at last, as it flew by him;—I’ll not hurt thee, says my uncle Toby, rising from his chair, and going a-cross the room, with the fly in his hand,—I’ll not hurt a hair of thy head:—Go, says he, lifting up the sash, and opening his hand as he spoke, to let it escape;—go poor devil, get thee gone, why should I hurt thee?—This world surely is wide enough to hold both thee and me."

That last in a precept we should live by, for flies spiders, and all of us.

Subject: RE: BS: 2021: MBF households and friends
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 29 Aug 22 - 10:57 AM

Posts from the not-best-of-friends have been removed.

My best friends have shed enough to knit a couple of more dogs this summer, and I'm sure this is a result of the extended extremely hot weather. I don't remember ever seeing so much for so long into the warm season, and I've resorted to keeping a broom and dustpan in the den and sweeping it into a pile I block against one wall with the broom (so they don't redistribute it). Twice a week on trash days I make one last pass through the area then sweep it all into the bag that is going out to the curb.

I work (as a contractor) for a landscape architect, keeping up his website and social media. He has a dog who is like a sawed-off pitbull, with many of the characteristics, but short legs. Add about 1/3 again leg-length and she'd be in the "normal" range for those dogs. (There must be some basset in there.) Her superpower is that she is a tree-climber. They have a huge old live oak (like this, though this tree is larger & at the Alamo) in the back yard with the typical rough bark that gives her claws easy purchase, and they have a lot of photos of her 15-20 feet up the tree and out on limbs. This is one of those trees with lots of horizontal or gently sloped branches so she can travel around up there. This morning he sent a photo of the raccoons she recently treed. As far as they know, this dog was dumped in their neighborhood, but she landed at the home of dog-lovers and has lived the life ever since.

Subject: RE: BS: 2021: MBF households and friends
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Aug 22 - 03:31 PM

I see a question from Keb about the closet episode - no there are no squeaker toys. Anywhere. Anytime. My normally high-strung blue heeler goes apeshit over squeaky toys. I brought one home one time that the clerk at PetSmart told me was very durable, that her Rottweiler had played with for a couple of years. I heard Pepper at work with the toy and within an hour she had pulled the squeaker out and it lay on the floor beside the toy. Pepper's surgical removal convinced me that while they were an annoyance, they could also be a choking hazard. I returned it the next day for a refund. We stick with the hard Nylabone toys.

Ever since that camping-in-the-closet episode the dogs have a fondness for the closet, and will poke around every so often to see if a bed has been set up in there. Sometimes in thunderstorms I let the blue heeler in to hunker down where she can't see the flashes of lightning. And I will note that part of my discomfort of sleeping in the closet was because (as it turns out) I was within a couple of weeks of having my underactive thyroid diagnosed and I was stiff and sore because of that medical condition. Now that I'm on synthroid I could handle such a campout more comfortably.

The lab is very old, deaf, but as sweet as can be. He is incontinent in the poop department - when I walk into the den some mornings I see that he got up from his sleep mat and walked across the room to the dog door dropping pecan-sized pellets along the way. If he's really excited and doing his modified old-dog jumping he can leave a whole stack of them right there. Fortunately his diet is such that they're solid and easily picked up to flush or toss into the yard.   

As to the article about the 4000 beagles, one side story is that Meghan Markle is a beagle fan, having had a rescue beagle in the past as well as another one now. She and Harry adopted an older mama dog from the group of dogs sent to a shelter out in California.

Nice story from Buzzfeed.

Subject: RE: BS: 2021: MBF households and friends
From: Doug Chadwick
Date: 28 Aug 22 - 02:54 PM

I have had 4 dogs over the last 40 years, from pups through to the last visit to the vet (for the first three). My current dog and I are growing old together. Each one was a member of the family and gave us the companionship and fun that we hoped for.

It's fair to say that I fit squarely into the description of a dog lover but, I am sorry BWM, I'm with Steve on this one.

DC

Subject: RE: BS: 2021: MBF households and friends
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 28 Aug 22 - 01:45 PM

Over the top or what?

Subject: RE: BS: 2021: MBF households and friends
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 28 Aug 22 - 11:45 AM

I just found this story on a SM site. I have no way of knowing if it’s true, but I really, REALLY hope it is - as a dog-owner and lifelong dog-lover, it strikes a huge, resounding chord with me…

”Being a veterinarian, I had been called to examine a ten-year-old Irish Wolfhound named Belker. The dog’s owners, Ron, his wife Lisa, and their little boy Shane, were all very attached to Belker, and they were hoping for a miracle.

I examined Belker and found he was dying of cancer. I told the family we couldn’t do anything for Belker, and offered to perform the euthanasia procedure for the old dog in their home.

As we made arrangements, Ron and Lisa told me they thought it would be good for six-year-old Shane to observe the procedure. They felt as though Shane might learn something from the experience.

The next day, I felt the familiar catch in my throat as Belker‘s family surrounded him. Shane seemed so calm, petting the old dog for the last time, that I wondered if he understood what was going on. Within a few minutes, Belker slipped peacefully away.

The little boy seemed to accept Belker’s transition without any difficulty or confusion. We sat together for a while after Belker’s Death, wondering aloud about the sad fact that dogs' lives are shorter than human lives. Shane, who had been listening quietly, piped up, ”I know why.”

Startled, we all turned to him. What came out of his mouth next stunned me. I’d never heard a more comforting explanation. It has changed the way I try and live.

He said, ”People are born so that they can learn how to live a good life — like loving everybody all the time and being nice, right?” The six-year-old continued,

”Well, dogs already know how to do that, so they don’t have to stay for as long as we do.”

Live simply.
Love generously.
Care deeply.
Speak kindly.

Remember, if a dog was the teacher you would learn things like:

• When your loved ones come home, always run to greet them.
• Never pass up the opportunity to go for a joyride.
• Allow the experience of fresh air and the wind in your face to be pure Ecstasy.
• Take naps.
• Stretch before rising.
• Run, romp, and play daily.
• Thrive on attention and let people touch you.
• Avoid biting when a simple growl will do.
• On warm days, stop to lie on your back on the grass.
• On hot days, drink lots of water and lie under a shady tree.
• When you’re happy, dance around and wag your entire body.
• Delight in the simple joy of a long walk.
• Be faithful.
• Never pretend to be something you’re not.
• If what you want lies buried, dig until you find it.
• When someone is having a bad day, be silent, sit close by, and nuzzle them gently.

That's the secret of happiness that we can learn from a good dog.”

Mrs Backwoodsperson often says, “Dogs know stuff”. She’s absolutely right.

Subject: RE: BS: 2021: MBF households and friends
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 26 Aug 22 - 08:49 AM

International Dog Day today - Wooooooooo-hoo! :-)

https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/62399766

Subject: RE: BS: 2021: MBF households and friends
From: Donuel
Date: 22 Aug 22 - 03:41 PM

Well there is the dark side of mortality with friendly pets.
I've seen total breakdowns of people dealing with the death of a pet.
Even Veternarians have a higher suicide rate than dentists. Failures of any treatment ends with death and despair.
I would worry about people who have no tears or despair over their pet's passing. Its not wierd to have a greater reaction to losing a pet over losing a human. You have probably slept more often with more pets than with some people :^/

Subject: RE: BS: 2021: MBF households and friends
From: Donuel
Date: 18 Aug 22 - 07:41 AM

I did a show on talk radio once about man's best friend and the unresolved grief people feel about losing their unjudgemental friend, we couldn't get to all the callers.

Subject: RE: BS: 2021: MBF households and friends
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 18 Aug 22 - 07:22 AM

It's very sad when MBF becomes MWE (Man's worst enemy)

Man, 34, mauled to death by dog

Other sources I have seen said he was a dog lover himself which makes it all the more tragic. It just shows that with the best will in the world some dog/owner/public combinations just don't mix :-(

Subject: RE: BS: 2021: MBF households and friends
From: keberoxu
Date: 11 Aug 22 - 07:57 PM

2,000 of the preceding have gone to humane societies
across the US,
where there is a WAITING LIST of interested adopters in most places.

Subject: RE: BS: 2021: MBF households and friends
From: keberoxu
Date: 06 Aug 22 - 09:55 AM

Life has suddenly gotten much better for
thousands of beagles, confined in Virginia,
that were being bred for National Institute of Health experiments.

New York Times: 4,000 Mistreated Beagles Need Homes

Subject: RE: BS: 2021: MBF households and friends
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 29 Sep 21 - 12:32 PM

I think it's "Britney." I wasn't picking Donuel up on his spelling, just opportunistically using it to make a feeble joke...

In similar vein is a pretty old one. We have a folk singer this end called Isla St Clair. The joke goes, if Isla St Clair married Barry White, divorced him then married Bryan Ferry, would she be Isla White-Ferry?

(We have an Isle of Wight ferry, you see...)

I'll get me coat...

Subject: RE: BS: 2021: MBF households and friends
From: keberoxu
Date: 29 Sep 21 - 11:41 AM

the spelling is more like Brittney, yes?

Polly is lucky to have human hosts like Steve Shaw --
I hope she has some idea how fortunate she is.

Subject: RE: BS: 2021: MBF households and friends
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 29 Sep 21 - 09:04 AM

Or perhaps "Brittany Ferries" is a brand unfamiliar to Americans. It's a company that runs giant car/passenger ferries between England, France and Spain.

Isn't explaining jokes awful?

Subject: RE: BS: 2021: MBF households and friends
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 29 Sep 21 - 08:38 AM

"...Brittany Spears...."

Maybe that now that Brittany [sic] is free, she could marry Bryan Ferry. She'd then be called...

Subject: RE: BS: 2021: MBF households and friends
From: Donuel
Date: 29 Sep 21 - 08:06 AM

Trapping dogs in households in the bondage of ownership is akin to the conservatorship of Brittany Spears. The freedom movement for dogs is compromised by a lack of adequate translators and income production. Once those hurdles are overcome perhaps dogs could get a seat at the United Nations.

Subject: RE: BS: 2021: MBF households and friends
From: Donuel
Date: 28 Sep 21 - 06:34 PM

Man Bites Friends in household?

Subject: RE: BS: 2021: MBF households and friends
From: Senoufou
Date: 28 Sep 21 - 06:30 PM

Duh, I should have put 'Man's Best Friend'. (Too many crumpets affect my brain)
Love that joke about the German Shepherd!! hee hee

Subject: RE: BS: 2021: MBF households and friends
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 28 Sep 21 - 03:55 PM

Our new cat Polly craps randomly all over my big garden, flower beds, veg plot, everywhere. She's bloody useless at burying it, which is good, as I'm far less likely to grab a blob of it when I'm weeding. I haven't seen rabbit damage for three months, and that's for the first time in years. I'm sure these facts are connected.

She a lovely pussycat, by the way. We're over the moon.

Subject: RE: BS: 2021: MBF households and friends
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 28 Sep 21 - 03:11 PM

There is a German Shepherd keeps shitting on our lawn.

His dog's not much better...

Subject: RE: BS: 2021: MBF households and friends
From: Helen
Date: 28 Sep 21 - 01:48 PM

We don't have dogs because we are cat people but I like most dogs when I see them out walking with their humans, unless they are aggressive or out of control - the dogs and/or the humans. LOL

You might like this recent article:

Some dogs blessed with a sense of humour similar to children's, says expert

Subject: RE: BS: 2021: MBF households and friends
From: Donuel
Date: 28 Sep 21 - 09:58 AM

Good dogs have an unqualified empathy, forgiveness, loyalty, a quest for joy and if you listen very carefully, talk truthfully beneath their breathe.
If a person has even half of those things, marry them.
You will get used to the aroma.

Subject: RE: BS: 2021: MBF households and friends
From: Senoufou
Date: 28 Sep 21 - 08:24 AM

I've told a lie. I absolutely hate spiders!!

Subject: RE: BS: 2021: MBF households and friends
From: Senoufou
Date: 28 Sep 21 - 08:23 AM

is it My Best Friend? All the people round here have mainly two dogs, and they walk past our house, stopping for a chat while I sit on The Bench. Their 'Best Friends' are delightful, and I always heave myself up to give them a pat and a stroke.
I do like all creatures. I have two bluebottle flies buzzing around in our sitting room who seem fond of me.I call them Bill and Jeremy. I give them a little bit of ham from time to time. My neighbour says, "Yew orter be certifoid!!" (She may be right!)

Subject: RE: BS: 2021: MBF households and friends
From: keberoxu
Date: 16 May 21 - 03:50 PM

How are your canine companions,
and the humans they own,
enjoying the change in the weather?

wherever you are?

Subject: RE: BS: 2021: MBF households and friends
From: keberoxu
Date: 24 Mar 21 - 09:00 PM

... and then there are those dogs
who chew THROUGH their chew toys.

I watched one afternoon as a purebred Border Terrier bitch,
very pregnant and desperately bored,
accepted the present of a brand new rubber chew toy,
and proceeded to work the darned thing
until it was in bits and pieces.

This was one determined little brown dog.

Subject: RE: BS: 2021: MBF households and friends
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 13 Mar 21 - 06:53 AM

Mostly Big Farts
Many Bleak Fish
Mouldy Bread Facts

Subject: RE: BS: 2021: MBF households and friends
From: keberoxu
Date: 12 Mar 21 - 09:57 PM

Stilly,
I hope that your dogs' chew toys were not
the kind with SQUEAKERS in them.

Some of those squeak toys are SHRILL.
I can hardly bear to think of lying there together
in the closet all night
AND you suddenly get woken up by
SQUEEEEEAK   SQUEEEEEEEAK    ...

Subject: RE: BS: 2021: MBF households and friends
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Mar 21 - 10:50 AM

During that now-famous Texas freeze last month I spent three nights in a 5'x6' closet on a stack of backpacking/camping pads in a down sleeping bag. I built a wide pallet for the dogs with another pad and a yoga mat and a big dog cover that normally goes over the sofa to keep hair and mud off of the furniture - and we four slept in there during the four days of no power.

The first night they weren't sure what to expect and I got up a couple of times to take them out to the yard, but after that they realized we were going to sleep there all night and they stayed put. It was so much warmer in the closet, as uncomfortable as the positioning was for me (I'm a little taller than the space where I had the mats and I couldn't quite sleep diagonally because there is a built-in shelf thing that was in the way).

There was always a little jockeying for position when we first got into bed for the night, but then they settled down. I had lots of chew toys in there to distract them. The three are a 75-pound Labrador retriever, a 45-pound Blue Heeler, and a 35-pound boxer-pit mix mutt. The temperature was up to between 60-70 degrees by morning. They loved our camping trip in the closet.

Subject: RE: BS: 2021: MBF households and friends
From: Senoufou
Date: 09 Mar 21 - 03:49 AM

My eyes are a bit 'dodgy' this morning and I thought this said MDF households'. (Medium Density Fibreboard) This started an ungovernable train of thought as I wondered why on earth one would have fibreboard as a building material for a house.
Then I saw it was MBF and 'googled' it. Muscle Burning Fat?? eh?
Anyway, if this is about cats, I love 'em. If it's about dogs, I love 'em too. Foxes? Okay. Fleas? Nah.

Subject: RE: BS: 2021: MBF households and friends
From: Donuel
Date: 08 Mar 21 - 10:45 PM

Dogs can be so empathetic that when they do what they know is wrong they can look so pathetically guilty that our own empathy is prone to forgive them immeditely. They know how to change the subject with a guitly look.

Subject: RE: BS: 2021: MBF households and friends
From: keberoxu
Date: 08 Mar 21 - 10:21 PM

... and Ebbie's new companion?

Subject: RE: BS: 2021: MBF households and friends
From: keberoxu
Date: 01 Mar 21 - 07:41 PM

BWM, how is Baxter the border terrier keeping this winter?

Subject: RE: BS: 2021: MBF households and friends
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 01 Mar 21 - 02:21 PM

Not my style, Steve - I don’t regard sex as a spectator-sport! ;-) :-)

Subject: RE: BS: 2021: MBF households and friends
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 01 Mar 21 - 12:17 PM

We could compromise, BWM - you could always start a dogging thread...


I'll get me coat...

Subject: RE: BS: 2021: MBF households and friends
From: keberoxu
Date: 01 Mar 21 - 10:50 AM

Like Mudcatters Being Finicky,
love the humo[u]r.

Subject: RE: BS: 2021: MBF households and friends
From: JHW
Date: 01 Mar 21 - 05:37 AM

Maggie's best freind is called Tilly. Barks at people she likes, including the postman. (Tilly that is that barks)

Subject: RE: BS: 2021: MBF households and friends
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 01 Mar 21 - 04:34 AM

Very wise... :-) ;-)

Subject: RE: BS: 2021: MBF households and friends
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 01 Mar 21 - 04:14 AM

Incidentally, you may rest assured that I won't be posting to any thread dedicated to dogs. I'm way too scared of BWM for starters...

Subject: RE: BS: 2021: MBF households and friends
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 01 Mar 21 - 04:11 AM

Maggie's Best Friends then... :-)

Subject: RE: BS: 2021: MBF households and friends
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 01 Mar 21 - 03:34 AM

Looks like somebody’s trying a wind-up.

No thank-you.

Subject: RE: BS: 2021: MBF households and friends
From: Mr Red
Date: 01 Mar 21 - 03:23 AM

Mudcatters Being Finicky?

Subject: RE: BS: 2021: MBF households and friends
From: Jack Campin
Date: 01 Mar 21 - 02:56 AM

Intentionally incomprehensible clique-speak.

Fuck off.

Subject: RE: BS: 2021: MBF households and friends
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Mar 21 - 12:31 AM

I don't recall any examples of dog haters, only one particular Mudcatter who dislikes them. If this is an attempt to call him out, don't do it.

Two weeks ago I spent three nights sleeping in a clothes closet with my three dogs to keep us all warm and alive during that long Texas freeze complete with power outage. It was mutually beneficial and they enjoyed the close proximity. When asked about that really tough week, I can tell people that as far as the dogs were concerned we went on a four-day-three-night camping trip in my closet.

Subject: BS: 2021: MBF households and friends
From: keberoxu
Date: 28 Feb 21 - 08:30 PM

This is worth a try, even if it doesn't succeed.

Some of us Mudcat members, albeit not all of us,
share our households and our lives with MBF .
There have been failed attempts in the past
to have a thread, similar to a "Mudcats have Cats"/"Cats" thread,
for those of us
for whom life without MBF is not complete.

But when the thread title contains the "d" word,
it seems to bring out the "d" haters amongst Mudcat members
and in no time the thread has been trashed beyond recovery.

Can't we have peace amongst the Mudcatters
AND
a thread for the, ahem, fanciers of the canine companion?

Me, my accommodations permit neither C-A-T nor M-B-F,
but both animals are near and dear to my heart.


And regardless of what transpires,
any opinions on what M-B-F stands for
could at least be good for a few laughs.